The World’s End Blu-ray Review

Gary King (Simon Pegg) manages to gather the old gang in order to partake in the “Golden Mile”, a pub crawl of 12 pubs in their old hometown of Newton Haven. The 5 friends, Gary, Andy (Nick Frost), Steven (Paddy Considine), Peter (Eddie Marsan), and Oliver (Martin Freeman), are now back in town, but there’s something that just simply doesn’t add up. While Gary is having too much fun, the rest of the group wonders why they are there, but upon uncovering the mystery surrounding the town’s strange behavior they find themselves trapped and forced to continue.

The final part to the “Three Flavors Cornetto Trilogy” is finally here, The World’s End culminates a set of films that although its creator, Edgar Wright, calls them a trilogy, their stories are completely original and different from one another. The World’s End is possibly the weakest entry of the three titles, with Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead, but it remains as entertaining as the others. The film does have its ups and downs, but Edgar Wright managed to achieve a good balance of action and character development. I always regarded Edgar Wright as a great director and his recent work on Scott Pilgrim not only did it give him an opportunity to explore new ideas, but it also helped him better shape his peculiar and stylized action sequences

With Edgar Wright at the helm we see his unique style of director at work. Although the film dragged through the first part of the film, the rest of the film picked up fast and never looked back. However, I will say that my second and third viewings helped me appreciate the first 30-45 minutes a lot more. The character development and the way the story is setup is crucial in this early stage. Edgar Wright makes sure that we feel some attachment to the characters early on and he succeeds! By the time the climax of the film has arrived we have been exposed to characters that have been emotionally hurt and the adventure has only served them to open up and find themselves. Wright/Pegg’s script really takes a glance at the current social issues that its characters are going through and hiding behind the smiles. This really works well as the film is moving along.

This leaves us to the ending, which until today I still think is way out there, and it is what makes The World’s End the third fiddle of the trio. Multiple watches later and I am still not convinced that the ending was the proper one for the film. But just like Nick Frost’s character adds that Gary is finally happy, which is something that the middle age alcoholic Gary King had been searching for all these years, it’s sort of an understandable ending.

The World’s End arrives on Blu-ray with a 1080p MPEG4-AVC encode framed at 2.35:1 aspect ratio. The World’s End looks phenomenal on Blu-ray, without a doubt very close to perfection, but if you aren’t very nitpicky this could be a perfect transfer. The colors appear natural with a few stand outs like reds and specially the blue that appears from the ink of the robots. The flesh tones appear very natural and lifelike, a few characters appear pale, but that’s probably their normal complexion rather than a faulty transfer. The black colors appear very deep and inky and never overwhelming the image. The detailing is excellent with many revealing aspects in every frame. The close shots are fantastic and each scene features great amounts of details in the surroundings. There are a few scenes that feature some noise around the edges, but this is very minor that I am sure many will not really mind or notice. The World’s End looks fantastic on Blu-ray, enough said!

The World’s End wasn’t just going to have an outstanding video, the audio is absolutely enjoyable. The World’s End includes a 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio lossless track that goes above and beyond what we expected. First of all, comedies do not tend to pack the punch that The World’s End packs so the track handles everything with perfection. The dialogue is superb, the first 5 minutes or so when Simon Pegg is narrating are evidence of that. The dialogue is also never overwhelmed despite the many scenes that feature action sequences. The surrounds are always active providing atmospheric effects. The score/soundtracks flow through the channels with ease. The dynamic range is fantastic; a few scenes with fights inside the bar really bring out the best in the track. The LFE output is also very accurate and always providing good support, it gives each fight that needed oomph. The World’s End simply sounds great on Blu-ray!

Completing The Golden Mile – The Making of The World’s End – This is a making of piece that goes over difference aspects of the production, themes, directing, and more.

Director at Work – The cast talks about Edgar Wright and their experience working with the director.

Pegg + Frost = Fried Gold – Hear the cast talk about what it is working with Pegg and Frost. They talk about environment that they bring to the set.

Friends Reunited – Take a closer look at the main characters of the film.

Three Flavors Cornetto Trilogy – Edgar Wright talks about the connection of the three films and why it is called the Cornetto trilogy.

Filling in the Blanks: The Stunts and FX of The World’s End – This piece gives viewers a glimpse into the physical stunts in the film as well as the many special effects utilized in different scenes of the movie.

Stunt Tapes – Bathroom Fight, Twinbot Fight, and Beehive Fight.

VFX Breakdown – The special effects gurus breakdown some scenes for the viewers.

There’s Only One Gary King – Osymyso’s Inibri – 8 Megamix

Signs & Omens – This will explain the viewers the significance of each of the pub’s names.

Trailers – Domestic trailer, Newton Haven, and The Man Who Would Be (Gary) King.

Edgar and Simon’s Flip Chart

TV Spots – Shaun Fuzz, Shaun Fuzz Bathroom, and These Guys

Animaniacs

Hair and Makeup Tests

Bits & Pieces

Rehearsal Footage

TV Safe Version

Galleries

Trivia Track

U-Control

Deleted Scene

Outtakes

Alternate Edits

Edgar Wright is perhaps one of my favorite directors today. With his unique style and vision for filmmaking, his projects always end up delivering everything his fans hope for. With The World’s End, we see the final collaboration with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost (I highly doubt it); in a film that is quite entertaining, perhaps not as much as Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead, but containing enough of each of those entries that fans will definitely appreciate! The technical aspects of the discs are fantastic with a great video transfer and an audio track that’s quite enjoyable, you can’t miss it. The disc is filled with supplements too so there’s plenty to see in this disc. For fans of Pegg, Frost and Wright this should be a no brainer.

About the author

MEDIA JOURNALIST & STAFF WRITER | Michael is a fanatic about all cinema. He collects many things from movies to Steelbooks to 1/6 Scale Collectibles and vinyl collectibles. He loves pop culture, writing, reviewing films & collectibles, and journalism. Anything that is even slightly related to these things are always on his radar and most definitely a comic book nerd. He is also, of course, a Batman junkie and will chat it up about pretty much anything.

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